1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor processing, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for managing heat in a semiconductor chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat is an adversary of most electronic devices. Integrated circuits, such as various types of processors, can be particularly susceptible to heat-related performance problems or device failure. Over the years, the problem of cooling integrated circuits has been tackled in a variety of ways. For conventional plastic or ceramic packaged integrated circuits, cooling fans, heat fins and even liquid cooling systems have been used, often with great success.
In the past few years, the size and power consumption of integrated circuits has climbed to the point where designers have turned to other ways to shed heat. One of these conventional techniques involves a liquid coolant micro heat exchanger in which a coolant is circulated past a top surface of an semiconductor chip. Another conventional technique for more localized thermal management involves the use of a thermoelectric or Peltier device. Conventional Peltier devices have been incorporated directly into a semiconductor die or supplied as an add on. In another conventional design suitable for a packaged semiconductor chip with a lid, micro channels are formed in the lid to increase the surface area available for conductive heat transfer. In still another conventional variant, a plate is coupled to a semiconductor die. The plate is provided with several diamond pins that act as heat pipes for the transfer of heat away from the semiconductor die.
The aforementioned conventional designs tend to focus on specific device and heat transfer levels, i.e., microscopic, macroscopic etc. New varieties of integrated circuits dissipate up to a few hundred watts of power. With die sizes continuing to fall, power densities can reach over a thousand watts per square centimeter. Conventional cooling systems may not be able to manage such power levels.
The present invention is directed to overcoming or reducing the effects of one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.